Ranking the 5 most important players on the Sacramento Kings Heading into 2024-25

#3: Domantas Sabonis

At the end of the day, you need your best players to play well if you are going to have a chance, and Sabonis is absolutely one of our best players.

But even more than that, in a year where a lot was not going our way (especially toward the end), Sabonis was the player keeping everything held together. Not only did he play 35.7 minutes per night (98th percentile) for all 82 games while putting up double-doubles in 77 of those contests, but he also had a much improved defensive season. Last season, Sabonis finished in the 58th percentile in DEF EPM. Meanwhile, in 2022-23, his mark was all the way down at the 22nd percentile.

The Kings are going to need Sabonis to keep carrying the weight of the world on his incredibly broad shoulders if they are going to build off of last season and improve. And on top of that, it would be great if he continued to add to his midrange game.

After placing in the 47th percentile in 2022-23, Sabonis bumped up his midrange volume to the 65th percentile last year. For Sabonis, taking more midrange shots is crucial so that teams don't feel as comfortable sagging off him and walling off his lane to the paint (particularly during the playoffs).

The only reason Sabonis isn't higher is because he isn't the team's best player, at least, not in my opinion.